Weekly Daf #141

Chullin 61-67 -- Issue #141
8-14 Cheshvan 5757 / 21-27 October 1996

The Chicken Before the Egg

How do we know that it is permissible to eat eggs?

But why should there be any problem with eggs laid by a kosher
chicken?

The Talmud (Bechoros 5b) states a rule that forbids anything
that comes forth from an animal which is forbidden. This ban
includes the milk and other secretions of forbidden animal life
(with the exception of honey from a bee) and raises a problem
concerning the milk of a cow. Before the cow is slaughtered it
is forbidden to cut off any part of its flesh and eat it. So,
why may we drink the milk which flows from such forbidden flesh?

The resolution of this problem is that in a number of places in
Scripture there is reference to milk being consumed. One of these
is the Torah's description of EretzYisrael as a
"land flowing with milk and honey," leading to the conclusion
that unless milk was permissible to drink it would not be utilized
as a praise for the holy land.

The same problem which is raised regarding milk applies to eggs
as well. If we cannot eat from the flesh of the chicken while
it is alive how can we eat the eggs which come from it? The revelations
which are found in the various passages about the legitimacy of
milk are not there in regard to eggs.

An interesting source is proposed by the Ba'alHilchosGedolos. Our Gemara states that the eggs of a non-kosher
bird are forbidden because one of the birds listed by the Torah
as forbidden is "the daughter of the ya'anah,"
which is interpreted as meaning the eggs of that or any other
forbidden bird. There is really no need for a source to prohibit
eggs of forbidden birds since they are covered by the aforementioned
general ban on anything coming from a forbidden species. The
purpose of mentioning a ban on ya'anah eggs, therefore,
is to communicate that only the eggs of a forbidden bird are forbidden
but not the eggs of a kosher fowl.

Tosefos finds this interpretation of the Gemara a bit difficult
to reconcile with the text. He suggests an alternative source.
In regard to the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird before
taking the eggs found along the road there is an exception made
if the eggs are those of a forbidden species even if the bird
sitting on them is kosher. This distinction communicates the
message that if the eggs have been laid by a kosher bird they
may be eaten.

Chullin 64b

Great Fish for Dinner

The Leviathan is a kosher fish.

Tradition has is that this creature, referred to as the great
sea-giants created on the fifth day of creation, was removed from
circulation but will be restored in the end of days to serve as
a main course in the feast for the righteous. It is described
in the Book of Iyov (41:6,22) as having the fins and scales which
identify a kosher fish.

An interesting problem is raised by the commentaries in regard
to the Talmud's need to prove the kosher status of the Leviathan.
How could we possibly assume that the fish to be served at the
feast reserved as a great reward of the righteous could be non-kosher?

Maharsha suggests that there was never a doubt as to whether
the flesh of the Leviathan is kosher since it is to star in the
menu of that great feast of the future. The question, rather,
is whether it is to be classified as a fish, or whether
it is a fowl which lives in the water, like some gigantic
duck. The proof cited from the Book of Iyov establishes that
it is indeed a fish, on the basis of its having the fins and scales
that other kosher fish have, and thus assures us that the righteous
will enjoy great fish for their great dinner.